by Kent Covington Posted 1/22/19, 11:04 am

A blast of cold temperatures added to misery in the Midwest and Northeast Tuesday after this weekend’s winter storm led to the death of at least five people. The weather-related casualties include a 12-year-old girl in Chicago whose snow fort collapsed on her, a Kansas snowplow driver who died in a crash, and a Connecticut subcontractor who was crushed by a falling tree.

by Kent Covington Posted 1/21/19, 10:43 am

The stage is set for Super Bowl LIII, with the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots eking out overtime wins Sunday to advance to pro football’s title game in Atlanta on Feb. 3. The Rams stunned the New Orleans Saints 26-23 in the NFC championship game with Greg Zuerlein’s 57-yard field goal in the extra period. In the AFC championship, the Patriots won the coin toss in overtime and never gave the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense a chance, as Tom Brady handed off to Rex Burkhead to score from 2 yards out to win 37-31.

by Kent Covington Posted 1/17/19, 11:54 am

Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, answered questions about the government’s response to climate change in his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Wheeler has led the department as acting administrator since July.

Kent Covington | 1/14/19, 11:25 am

President Donald Trump called a recent New York Timesreport about his dealings with Russia “the most insulting article” ever written about him. Citing anonymous sources, the Times on Friday reported that after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, federal law enforcement officials started looking into whether the president was working for Russia against U.S. interests.

Kent Covington | 1/10/19, 11:34 am

A Kurdish militia group allied with the United States said Wednesday it captured an American teenager among a group of foreigners fighting for Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) seized the militants in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where ISIS still holds pockets of territory amid fierce fighting. In a statement, the YPG identified the 16-year-old American teenager as Soulay Noah Su. The U.S. State Department has not confirmed the report. On Sunday, the Kurdish group announced the capture of five foreign fighters, including two U.S.

Kent Covington | 1/10/19, 11:00 am

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to stop sending funds for California wildfires unless the state changes course. “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for forest fires that, with proper forest management, would never happen,” Trump tweeted. “Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money.”

Kent Covington | 1/08/19, 10:33 am

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday granted clemency to a woman sentenced to life in prison for murder when she was 16 years old. Authorities will release Cyntoia Brown, now 30, on parole in August. Brown said she was a human trafficking victim in 2004 when she shot a man who picked her up at a fast food restaurant in Nashville to have sex with her. Law enforcement officials opposed clemency, but vocal supporters, including a number of celebrities, argued Brown acted in self-defense and should not face life imprisonment.

Kent Covington | 1/08/19, 10:04 am

Clemson easily defeated defending champion Alabama Monday night in the College Football Playoff championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. It was an unexpected blowout by the second-ranked Tigers, who crushed No. 1 Alabama 44-16. With the victory, Clemson became the first team in 121 years at college football’s highest level to finish a season 15-0.

“All the credit, all the glory goes to the good Lord number one, and number two, to these young people,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said afterward.

Kent Covington | 1/04/19, 11:02 am

Herb Kelleher, the eccentric co-founder of Southwest Airlines, died Thursday. He was 87. Not many CEOs dress up as Elvis Presley, settle a business dispute with an arm-wrestling contest, or appear on TV wearing a paper bag over their head, but Kelleher did all of those things. And along the way he practically invented the low-fare airline sector. Kelleher became Southwest’s chairman in 1978 and CEO in 1982, leading the company through its period of greatest growth. He stepped down as chief executive in 2001 and retired as chairman seven years later.

Kent Covington | 1/04/19, 11:00 am

Pope Francis in a letter released Thursday encouraged U.S. bishops meeting for a weeklong retreat near Chicago to unify as the Roman Catholic Church deals with a “crisis of credibility.” In the eight-page letter addressed to the bishops, Francis said church leaders must reckon with parishioners’ pain, heal divisions, and devise specific approaches that go beyond “creating new committees or improving flow charts.”